November 5, 2019 12:03 am ·Comments Off on LA Metro Unveils Digital Sign Art Series on A LineViews: 153

With the reopening of the full A Line, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will unveil new digital amenities, including a digital communications and advertising network and its new digital art portrait series as part of Metro’s “New Blue” rail line improvements.

Customers riding the newly dubbed A Line between Long Beach and Compton Stations will see new IxNTouch information screens at each station – nearly 100 in total. These screens, developed in partnership with Intersection, a leading smart cities technology and media company, will allow Metro to communicate with customers across a growing network of digital screens and help customers better navigate the agency’s transit system.

The interactive touch screens will give riders greater access to train and bus arrival times, service alerts and advisories and system and connections maps, among other digital tools. Once complete, the network will allow Metro to target information and messages systemwide, by line, by station and even individual station screen.

“We are incredibly proud for our riders in Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, Rancho Dominguez and Long Beach to be the first to experience these new digital amenities,” said Inglewood Mayor and Metro Board Chair James T. Butts. “And we can’t wait to expand these amenities throughout our system in the near future.”

Eric Almanza, The Journey Home

The screens will also host Metro’s first-ever digital art portrait series on the completed A Line, “More People Than You Know.” The series celebrates the people who use and live along the A Line. Riders, artists and curatorial advisors with ties to these neighborhoods and cultural organizations worked closely with Metro Art to produce art that is intimate, immediate and relevant to local communities. The stories captured by the artists are both personal and universal.

Artists participating in the inaugural exhibition:

Eric Almanza

Kristina Ambriz

Jazmine Atienza

Daniel Barajas

Cat Ferraz

Alepsis Hernandez

Bodeck Hernandez

Cody Lusby

José M. Loza

LP Aekili Ross

Dave van Patten

Angela Willcocks

The digital displays along the A Line come at zero cost to taxpayers or riders because it is paid for by advertising revenues. By delivering useful and relevant information to riders, Intersection’s media assets are highly noticed and offer national and local brands the opportunity to engage consumers with system advertising opportunities. Intersection has committed to investing nearly $20 million in digital equipment on the Metro rail system at no cost to the agency.

In January 2018, Metro awarded Intersection and OUTFRONT Media each 10-year licenses to sell and display advertising on the Metro rail and bus system. The contracts are expected to reduce Metro’s costs by securing free advertising space without the need for Metro to incur printing, production or installation costs for the agency’s own ads. This will save Metro approximately $30 million over the life of the contracts. The new contract will also generate increased ad revenues — a guaranteed $262.2 million from OUTFRONT Media on the Metro Bus system and $42.9 million from Intersection on the Metro Rail system over the next 10 years to help sustain Metro’s current and future operations and transit system expansions.

The screens will be phased in across the entire Metro Rail system, and Orange Line and Silver Line by 2024 on station platforms, mezzanines and plazas, with at least two screens at every station.

“One of Metro’s key goals as an agency is creating outstanding trip experiences for all who use our system,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “These new displays and this new digital portrait series are just the beginning of our plans to truly enhance the experience of taking Metro as we work to create the transportation system of the future.”

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Author: billboardinsiderDave Westburg started billboard insider in September 2015 to provide a source of daily news and analysis for the outdoor business. He writes about what interests him as an outdoor advertising owner, lender and investor. You can reach Dave at billboardinsider@gmail.com or 206-910-1283.